SAN FRANCISCO -- Lehman Brothers unveiled its plan to repay tens of thousands of creditors that are demanding about $875 billion from the failed investment bank, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report on Monday. The plan, filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, comes on the 18-month anniversary of Lehman's collapse in 2008, which marked the largest bankruptcy ever. Lehman faces about 65,000 claims from creditors, but the firm will likely object to many of them and fight with creditors over what they're owed, Dow Jones Newswires said air conditioners. Monday marked the deadline for filing the plan. It was not immediately clear from the court filing exactly how much creditors can expect to recover on their claims. Lehman will pay creditors in cash and said the plan "represents

LONDON -- U.K. fashion retailer SuperGroup, owner of the SuperDry brand, said Friday that it has priced its initial public offering at 500 pence per share. Based upon the offer price, the market capitalisation of SuperGroup when it starts trading on the London Stock Exchange will amount to around 395 million pounds. The net proceeds of the offer are expected to amount to 120 million pounds payday loans. Unconditional dealings are expected to start on March 24. Seymour Pierce is acting as sponsor and sole bookrunner to the company.

SuperGroup Sets IPO Price At 500p a Share

WASHINGTON – Retail sales posted a surprising increase in February as consumers refused to let snowstorms stop them from stepping up purchases for everything from clothes to appliances. The improvement provided hope that the recovery from the Great Recession is gaining momentum.

Some economists cautioned that spending increases will remain modest as long as wages stay flat and job creation weak. But others said the fourth gain in retail sales in five months meant consumers are starting to spend with more confidence.

"This is more than a one-month wonder," said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial in Pittsburgh. "This is telling us that consumers, who had been tightening their belts throughout the recession, have now loosened them a notch."

For February, sales rose 0.3

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Most U.S. business economists expect the Federal Reserve to raise benchmark interest rates within six months by between a quarter and a half percentage point, according to a survey released on Monday.

A majority of economists in the National Association of Business Economists' semiannual survey found the Fed's current stance of rates near zero percent is appropriate. A growing number, however, believe the U.S. central bank's policy's are too stimulative, according to a poll of 203 members taken February 4-22.

"A majority believes that a rise in interest rates is both likely and appropriate in the next several months," said NABE President Lynn Reaser.

The Fed has said continued high rates of unemployment and low inflation warrant holding rates

NEW YORK (Reuters) – American International Group Inc (AIG.N) was closing in on a deal on Sunday to sell its foreign life insurance unit to MetLife Inc (MET.N) for about $15 billion in cash and stock, ultimately giving it more than 20 percent of MetLife, sources familiar with the matter said.

A deal for the unit, American Life Insurance Co (Alico), could be announced as soon as Monday, the sources said, declining to be named because it was not yet final.

MetLife's board was expected to meet later on Sunday to weigh the transaction, according to the sources. AIG's board met Friday and gave the task of final approvals to a special committee, which did so on Sunday, the sources said.

MetLife, the largest publicly traded U.S. life insurer, is expected to pay AIG about

Dr. Sheldon G. Gilgore, a leader of two major pharmaceutical companies during decades of rapid change in the drug business, died Feb. 12 in his home in Naples, Fla. He was 77.

Sheldon G. Gilgore

Go to your Portfolio »

The cause was pancreatic cancer, said his son Laurence.

Dr. Gilgore was the rare physician to lead drug companies, first as president of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals from 1971 to 1986 and then, in a move viewed as a major recruiting coup, as president and chief executive of G. D. Searle from 1986 to 1995.

At Pfizer he promoted development of the company’s first billion-dollar product, the arthritis drug Feldene. At Searle he manufactured Ambien, the nation’s most-prescribed sleeping

PLEASANTON, Calif. – Safeway Inc. said charges to write down the value of two of its supermarket chains drove it to a loss for its fourth quarter.

The grocery chain reported a loss of $1.61 billion, or $4.06 per share, for the quarter. Safeway earned $338 million, or 79 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Excluding the charges, tied to the value of its Vons and Eastern brands, the company earned 53 cents a share — in line with analyst estimates.

Revenue fell more than 8 percent to $12.69 billion for Safeway, hurt in part by comparison to the prior quarter, which included an extra week. Sales were slightly higher than analyst expectations of $12.62 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Safeway, based in Pleasanton, Calif, hit a slump in the recession as it

The Swiss government confirmed Wednesday that it would place a settlement made between the giant bank UBS and U.S. authorities before the country’s Parliament in a bid to overcome objections raised by a Swiss court.

The Justice Ministry said it would first need to make amendments to the text, expected in March. It did not specify exactly what the amendments would involve but said they would “remedy the shortcomings” found by the Federal Administrative Court.

If Parliament retroactively approves the agreement, originally reached last August between Washington and UBS, the accord would become a treaty and hence “take precedence” over past agreements, the Justice Ministry said.

“In any future appeals, the court will then no longer be able to regard the UBS

HONG KONG -- Deutsche Bank said Tuesday it has nearly doubled its estimate for the pace of growth in China's exports this year. Deutsche Bank said in a research report that China's exports will grow 30% this year, up from it previous forecast of 16% growth, because of indications of recovery in the U.S., data suggesting Chinese factories are restarting idled production lines and reports that Chinese exporters are able to pass along prices hikes to overseas buyers business...